


Cringing, Whinging, and Present-Giving

by erroneouslygrey



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Party, Christmas Presents, Established Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Established Relationship, F/F, F/M, Fluff, HP Joggers Fest, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Mild Language, No Sex, The Burrow (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-11
Updated: 2018-12-11
Packaged: 2019-09-16 07:17:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16949481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erroneouslygrey/pseuds/erroneouslygrey
Summary: What Harry loves more than anything (well, other than Draco, of course) is giving presents....not just ANY kind of presents, though.Harry loves to give Wonderfully Terrible Presents™ as he calls them – the kind which are terribly cringey at first glance, but upon closer inspection are actually quite lovely + personal; the kind which you pour your heart + soul into, then ruin juuuust enough so you can get some sort of exasperated reaction from the receiver; + the kind which make the receiver want to do all these at once: (a) burst out laughing, (b) cry a bit, (c) throw something, + (d) hug the gift-giver.This year, Harry is impatient to give out his best set of Wonderfully Terrible Presents™ at the first Christmas he + Draco will be spending at the Burrow with BOTH of their families in attendance. After keeping the gifts secret for about a year, he is beyond excited to reveal his thoughtful monstrosities to all who would be packed into the Burrow this year.With lots of meticulous planning + scrambled forgetting from Harry, lots of scolding + whinging from Draco, + lots of help from a young Teddy Lupin, Harry is finally, FINALLY able to reveal his best + most cringey set of presents.





	1. Chapter 1

In his scramble to get himself out the door, Harry nearly forgot his carefully thought-out presents – the things he was most proud to be taking over to the Burrow this year. He had the idea planned since last holiday season, had ordered them partway through the year, and then had received and wrapped them a couple months ago. He had poured his heart and soul into these gifts in a way that he knew everyone would both appreciate and despise at the same time, which was always his favorite type of reaction to cause in people when he gave gifts. There was something that was extremely satisfying to him in giving a thoughtful, meaningful gift and ruining it  _ just _ enough that people don’t quite know how to react to it. The gifts this year were his best of this type by far, and he had been desperate to see his family and friend’s faces upon opening the packages. Despite all of this, he was still about to leave without them, a fact he was not aware of until he saw Draco storming out to the car carrying the box that held the individually (and obnoxiously) wrapped gifts.

“Oops,” Harry said under his breath.

“Potter, you absolute fool! Were you honestly about to just drive us over there without these being in the car? You have been acting ridiculously obsessive and secretive about these packages for months, and then you just up and leave them on our bed?? Honestly, Scarhead, you are  _ such  _ a disaster,” Draco huffed, trying not to let his affection show through and failing miserably.

Harry grinned and winked, “Yes, dear, but I’m  _ your _ disaster.” Draco rolled his eyes, face pinking slightly.

“Thank you so much for grabbing those, babe. I thought I’d put them in the car already, so yeah, I definitely, definitely would have left without them, and I would have been pissed about it.”

“Ugh,  _ this, _ Potter –  **_this_ ** is why I have a  _ list _ and why I check it  _ twice _ !”

“I thought that was because you–”

“Shut  _ up _ , Potter, you very well know that I have no desire to be Santa Clause, and I do wish you would stop flinging such wild accusations at me. It’s rather rude, you know.”

“Oh come  _ on _ , Malfoy, you can’t just say that you like to make lists and check them twice and then  _ not _ expect me to make a Santa reference! It’s just not something that I could do, because not acknowledging it would go against everything I believe in” Harry argues, kissing Draco softly on the cheek.

“Whatever, Potter. You are utterly ridiculous, you know that? Especially with those horrendous Christmas joggers on!” Draco’s words are ones that he wishes came across as insult, but despite his disgusted expression, both he and Harry knew that they come across in much the opposite manner. Figuring he might as well just embrace his emotions for a moment, Draco wraps his arms around his disaster of a wizard and kisses him atop his  nest -er, hair. After the extremely brief moment of affection, Draco breaks away and immediately begins lecturing Harry.

“Now, go fetch the keys and get your arse in the car! I want to help Molly with last-minute prep, and if I miss out on the first year of being able to do that because of you, I will hold it against you for the rest of our lives! Go! I will check the trunk again to make sure we have everything while you do that.”

Harry dashed inside and began looking for the keys, but couldn’t seem to find them anywhere. Suddenly remembering that he was a wizard, and that there was a simple solution to this issue, Harry cast a quick  _ accio _ , which revealed as they shot into his hand that they had been in his pocket the entire time. Shaking his head at himself, Harry hurried back outside, casting a locking charm at the front door as he did so. Draco was waiting in the car for him already, so Harry quickly started the car so that they could set off for the Burrow.

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

The drive to the Burrow took about 30 minutes, and most of it consisted of holiday music and Draco whinging at Harry to reveal what his presents were. After months of practice at not revealing the secret, Harry was in no danger of accidentally falling for Draco’s traps now. As they got closer to the Burrow, though, their conversation turned to the last two Christmases that they spent together.

“Isn’t it weird to think that two years ago today, we had only been dating for two weeks, yet were already celebrating Christmas with your mum?”

“It really is...though I suppose we had been dancing around each other for so long that it didn’t seem that weird to us then. Mother made a comment to me after that about it being ‘about time’ or something like that,” Draco said, rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Harry huffed out a laugh before exclaiming, “I’m so excited for today! Last year at the Burrow was nice, but it felt strange to not also have your mum there, too. I’m glad that she and Andromeda took that holiday together, though, since it’s put them on good terms so we call all celebrate together this year,” Harry said.

“You’re such a sap, Potter.” Draco continued with a vulnerable type of honesty, “I agree though, it will be wonderful to have all the people I love be together at once. It has not happened in a long time, and even then, not quite like this. That’s why it’s been so important for me to help Molly with her holiday prep – both because she is so good at making me feel part of the family, and because I want to take some time with her to explain how much today means to me and to thank her for all she has done to make it happen.”

“Of course you do, Draco,” Harry said as they pulled up to the Burrow, “which is why I told you the incorrect time for when she starts preparing.”

Draco’s face immediately began to turn angry, but before he could open his mouth to say anything, Harry grabbed Draco’s hand and said, “Look, I wanted to give you two some extra time to talk before other people joined in to help her.”

“Oh!” Draco breathed, clearly pleased and a bit flustered.

“I knew you would have fret yourself silly about it if I had told you beforehand, and I didn’t want this to be something for you to stress about. It’ll be about an hour before she begins any of her prep for today, so let’s get in there, and I’ll take care of some things in the family room and check in on Arthur while you two have a nice chat, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Draco said in a small, shaky voice.


	2. Chapter 2

“Oh hello, Draco, dear! Hello Harry!” Molly exclaimed through the window as she caught sight of them unloading the car. “I wasn’t expecting anyone for an hour yet, I’m afraid I haven’t began any preparations, but do come in!”  
They made their way inside, Harry giving Molly a quick hug before disappearing and Draco suddenly seeming to become shy.  
“Um, Molly…”  
She raised an eyebrow at him and said, “Aren’t you going to give me a hug, dear?”  
He immediately did just that and admitted into her chest “I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed is all.”   
Unexpected tears began to form in his eyes, and he held onto her a bit tighter as he tried to fight them. Molly rubbed his back and told him that it was alright to cry if he needed to.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

A few minutes later, with a hot cup of tea in his hands, Draco was calm enough to actually begin talking. He explained how he was really excited about today, but how he was also extremely nervous. The togetherness that he and Harry had been discussing in the car was so important to him, and it felt as though his whole world was going to shift today with the importance of it all. He felt so happy and full of love in a way he never had before, and the combination of everything had him feeling overwhelmed. Molly talked him through all his worries, calming him down and reminding him that receiving love was not something to be scared of. They talked the whole hour through, the conversation naturally shifting to lighter subjects as they began to take care of the holiday preparations.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Meanwhile, Harry set out his packages in the family room, helping to rearrange the furniture in the way he knew Molly liked it to be for the holidays. That finished, he seeked out Arthur, quickly locating him in his shed.  
“Happy Christmas, Arthur!” Harry greeted.  
“Happy Christmas to you, too, Harry! And to what do I owe the honor of such an early arrival?”  
“Erm,” Harry shuffled his feet, hand unconsciously going to nervously rub at his neck, “I have a secret to tell you.”  
“Oh, really, now?”  
“I’ve been bursting to tell someone for months, now, and I need just one other person to know before tonight…” Harry trailed off, clearly unsure on how to continue, when Arthur’s gasp cut into his internal prodding of himself to “Just spit it out, damnit!”  
“Oh...my...goodness!”  
“What?” Harry demanded, immediately defensive.  
“Harry James Potter, you have always been told that you have your mother’s eyes, no?”  
“Um, yes, Arthur, but what exactly does that have to do with anything?”  
“Well, it would appear that right now, the color of your eyes matches her’s, but the look in your eyes does not. That look is exactly like the one your father had when he approached me with a suspiciously similar look in his eyes once upon a time ago. Say no more, Harry I know what you’re going to say, and I know what you’re going to ask, and my answer to you is that there is no way that this is going to end badly in the long-run. Whether your exact plan goes as desired or not, the result will be a good one.”  
Harry looked as though the weight of the world was lifted off of his shoulders from this alone, and he gave Arthur a hug.  
“Thank you, Arthur. I needed to hear that.”  
“Of course, Harry,” Arthur smiled kindly. “Now come help me figure out the meaning of these muggle tennis shoes! They have a wheel on the bottom, and I can’t seem to make sense of it. I can’t charm them until I understand them, you see.”  
“Oh my gosh, these are Heelys!” Harry squealed. “I always wanted a pair of these when I was younger. Yeah, let’s take a look at these!”


	3. Chapter 3

As they all squeezed themselves into the magically expanded, but still too small of a room, Harry felt his excitement growing. It was almost time for them to see what he had gotten them! However, he had insisted that all of his presents be the last ones to be opened, and that they get opened individually. Harry had Arthur on duty to make sure that Draco opened his present last. He wasn’t sure exactly what Arthur’s plan was, but he didn’t want to think about that now. Harry could hardly contain himself as all the presents from everyone else were opened, as he was too excited about his own. When it was finally time, Teddy was in charge of handing out the packages from Harry. Everyone had a package with their name on it. Everyone, expect for…  
Harry glanced at Draco and saw his crushed look. Arthur had hidden it? That was a terrible plan! Harry knew he should have given more explicit instructions.  
Leaning towards Harry’s ear, Draco whispered, “What happened to my present? You’ve had these ready to go forever and you have been particularly mysterious about the one for me.”  
“Teddy probably just couldn’t find it. He’s not the most observant kid, you know. We’ll make our way over to check once everyone else has opened theirs. I don’t want to interrupt the whole process now.” Harry whispered back.  
“Ugh, fine, Potter, but if your present turns out to be not having a present for me, I will be very, very angry,” Draco whinged.  
Harry rolled his eyes and turned towards Ron as he began opening his present. Ron look utterly bewildered as he pulled out an ugly looking pair of joggers that looked suspiciously similar to Harry’s own pair.  
“Er, thanks, Harry. I’ve been meaning to get–––” he noticed that the joggers had more than just obnoxious holiday decorations on them. They also, in fact, had pictures of chocolate frogs and corned beef sandwiches on them. “Bloody hell, Harry! You can’t just surprise a bloke with something sentimental like this. That’s too much, mate, I think I might cry a little bit,” Ron said as he moved to give Harry a hug, “All the way back from our first train ride, when we first met. I really do love them, mate. They’re pretty much the ugliest, thing I’ve ever seen, but I love them.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

All around him, Harry kept hearing and seeing similar reactions, as people discovered the ugly Christmas joggers within the packages, only to find an image of something quite sweet and rather deeply personal included in the design.  
For Hermione, the pictures were of little trolls and of fire in a jar. For Molly, it was a picture of a trolley that was part-way onto Platform 9¾, the first sweater she made him, and postage stamps. Arthur’s joggers included batteries and the Ford Anglia. Narcissa’s joggers were of a slightly more elegant design, though they were still horrifically ugly. They included pictures of a tea cup of hers that Harry had accidentally broken out of nervous clumsiness the first time he visited the Manor as Draco’s boyfriend, as well as pictures of stacks of mail for the countless letters that she and him sent each other throughout the early stages of his and Draco’s relationship, before they were comfortable enough to talk much in person. Andromeda’s personalization came in the form of a fireplace, for the all of the late night talks the two of them shared there, and in the form of a crib, for her taking care of Teddy and allowing him to help whenever possible. Teddy’s joggers had the most personalized items on them, despite him being the smallest person. They had werewolves and full moons on them for his father, a bubblegum pink blob with a silly-looking pig nose in the center to represent his mother, a dragon for his favorite cousin Draco, and a drawing of Harry that Teddy had made himself at one time, that mostly just looked like a scribble of black with glasses and a lighting bolt in the center of it.  
Everyone’s joggers were full of similarly beautiful and personal designs on them, as well as designs of reindeer, lights, trees, presents, Santa, candy canes, and the like.


	4. Chapter 4

At Harry’s insistence, as soon as the gifts were all opened, everyone scattered to put on their joggers so that they could get a group photo in them.  
Harry was quite proud of himself, but it was not over yet. He grabbed Draco’s hand. “C’mon babe, let’s go find your present! I’m sure Ted just overlooked it.”  
As Harry pulled Draco along, Arthur walked by the tree, and subtly nestled the present within the branches, making it seem as though he was just struggling to carry some of the wrapping paper out of the room.  
Trying to stall until everyone was back in the room, Harry purposefully lead Draco to the wrong side of the tree. They both looked all over the floor, and couldn’t find it.  
Draco looked increasingly frustrated and hurt as they continued their search until they heard a little voice cry out “This one says Dwaco! You haffa nother present, Dwaco! Open it! Open it!”  
Teddy had found the present before Harry could lead Draco over to it. Luckily, mostly everyone was back in the room by that point. As Draco opened the paper to find another set of ugly holiday joggers, he looked a bit disappointed, though he tried to hide it. Harry had kept telling him that his gift was much different from everyone else’s, but apparently not. It didn’t even have any personal images on it the way that the other pairs did!  
“Draco, babe, you should really put them on so that we can all match in our sweaters from Molly and our joggers!” Harry said, pretending not to notice Draco’s disappointment. Draco sullenly went just behind the wall of the next room over to swap out his slacks for joggers. He didn’t want to move too far away from everyone or he might begin to cry from disappointment. He stepped around the wall as he was most of the way done pulling them up, when he felt something bump his leg from within his pocket. Looking bewildered, Draco reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box, like the kind that necklaces come in. He looked over at Harry, who blushed deeply. Draco quickly made his way over to his red-faced boyfriend before opening said box. He looked down, and what he saw inside was...nothing. He looked at Harry again, who said quietly, “Look inside the lid.”  
Draco looked inside of the lid and found that a note had been taped inside it. 

My darling Draco,

I wasn’t sure if you would remember this box or not. A year or two before we began dating, there was a time when I gave you a necklace, as an attempt to ask you out. You thought I was playing some kind of prank when you saw that it was a necklace box, and you threw it at my head. The necklace flew out of the box and I couldn’t find it. I was devastated to have been rejected by you, and upset that I couldn’t even find the necklace so that I could try again. I have held onto the box since then anyway, because it makes me think of you. As much as I look back on this memory fondly now, it wasn’t a very positive experience at the time. I’m hoping tonight will be different. 

Draco looked up from the letter and saw Harry, who had gotten the attention of the room while Draco was reading.  
“Why? Why are you hoping tonight will be different?” Draco asked softly.  
“Well, you see, love, I have another box with me right now.” Harry reached into his pocket as he got down on one knee, “and I was hoping that this time it would be a positive experience from the start as well as a good memory later on.”  
He opened the box to reveal a platinum ring with the image of a green dragon set in stones across the band, but Draco was too focused on Harry to really look at it.  
“Draco, love, I want to keep making memories with you for the rest of my life, and I’m hoping with everything in me that you do, too. So, Draco Lucius Malfoy – my best friend, partner, and former arch-nemisis – will you marry me?”

The room went silent other than Draco, who was both laughing and crying a bit as he let out a strangled “Yes! Yes of course I will, you bloody idiot! Now stand up and kiss me already!” as he held out his hand.  
Grabbing on, Harry stood up and wrapped his arms around Draco, giving him a chaste, but very loving, kiss. The family all began to cheer and gush at each other about how cute (or obnoxious) they thought the whole proposal was.  
“So, are you going to put the ring on, or what?” Harry asked, half nervous, half joking.   
“Oh! I hadn’t really even looked at it! Harry, this is beautiful. How did a scarhead like you come up with something like this?” He joked, slipping the ring onto his finger. “Wow, and it’s a perfect fit! how did you manage that?”  
“Well, I wanted the design to be personal, and so I asked what they could do to personalize with a dragon, and then I made sure that the band was one of the ones that adjusts to the perfect size the first time that someone puts it on, and then stays the exact size needed for that person at any point in time.”  
“That’s cheating!” Draco accused, laughing. “I love it, though. I absolutely love it, and I love you even more.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

It went unnoticed by Draco for a little while, but eventually his joggers revealed themselves to having been personalized to match Harry’s. They had been charmed not to reveal the personalization until Harry removed the charm. They showed pictures of engagement rings on them, with the words “Mr. & Mr.” written over and over again, along with a picture of Hogwarts robes with pins stuck in it, a nod to when they first met each other. After some excitement over the design being revealed, a timer was set up on the camera so that they could get group photos in the Wonderfully Terrible™ Christmas joggers. Later on, Molly took some engagement pictures for Draco and Harry. Some were staged, while others she continued to take throughout the night when they weren’t paying attention. All of them turned out lovely...well, as lovely as they could considering the horrible look of the joggers, anyway.


	5. Epilogue

The wedding invitations were incredibly dorky, and Draco whinged endlessly about them. He had always imagined having much classier wedding invitations, with professional engagement photos on them. Never in his wildest dreams did he think he would (grudgingly) agree to send out invitations that contained dorky, unprofessional pictures of him and Harry in Weasley sweaters and matching, atrocious Christmas joggers. But, here he was, doing just that. What could he say? He loved Harry, and if the stupid joggers being on the invitation made Harry happy, then Draco would go along with it.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

It became a tradition in the Malfoy-Potter household that they wear the joggers every year after that. While everyone else did not wear their lovely gift every year the way that Draco and Harry did, there would always be at least another person or two who ended up in them as well (usually Teddy, until he outgrew them beyond the point which they could be magically enlarged). It was dorky, and it was wonderful, and it was Draco’s favorite part of the holidays, though he would never admit to it out loud, not even to Harry. He didn’t need to, though. Harry could tell from the way that Draco’s eyes shone as he tried to make his whinging over them convincing enough, and he could tell from the way that Draco was unable to hide the way that he lit up each when Harry declared it time to put the joggers on again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The idea to have them all in somewhat matching joggers came from my own experience, actually. One year, my mom found these terrible Christmas pajama pants at the dollar store, and she bought a pair for my whole immediate family as well as all our extended family on her side. We were all forced to put them on and take a picture in them right away, and we all hated it a little bit, although it was a bit fun, too.
> 
> Thank you for reading, and I hope that you enjoyed this fic! It's the first one I've ever actually completed, so hopefully it isn't too terribly put together. If I haven't tagged anything that you think should be, please let me know!


End file.
